


You Gave Me a Reason

by Lucky107



Series: Strange Blood [3]
Category: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Genre: Blind Character, Clairvoyance, Gen, Medium - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 04:31:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8830525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucky107/pseuds/Lucky107
Summary: As they approach the cabin, the air is oddly still.





	

**Author's Note:**

> War - Poets of the Fall - 2010

As they approach the cabin, the air is oddly still.

Silence blankets the Reach; the only distinguishable feature in the unkempt yard is a crude, hand-made cross.  It's disturbingly serene.  From the corner of his vision, Farkas catches the glisten of a silver ring - a wedding band - among the offerings at the base of the cross and he doesn't say a word.

He doesn't have to.

At his side, the smaller Breton is tense.  "I don't like it, Farkas."

"It's quiet," he agrees.  Too quiet - a bad omen - and Farkas knows Elara can feel his unrest.  "Let's see if anyone's in."

Farkas approaches the cabin door first and he's careful to keep Elara shielded behind his large shoulder in the event of an ambush.  The careful rattle of his knuckles against the rotten wood causes something to skitter inside, but there are no further signs to indicate that they're trespassing here.

Placing his hand firmly on the doorknob, it's Farkas' turn to seize up when his companion touches his hand.  "Don't."

"We—"

"No," Elara insists.  She gently guides his hand away from the doorknob.  "We can't save him.  There's no one alive inside, Farkas."

The Nord's questioning gaze lingers on Elara's sightless eyes, searching for words left unspoken, but he knows she's right.  She's right about the cabin being empty, and while he thought there might be something salvageable inside, she's right about that, too - this cabin is a man's tomb.  They can't disrupt that for a chance at a few gold coins.

"Alright," Farkas relents and Elara, reassured of his intentions, repositions her hand to the crook of his elbow.  When she offers him a smile, it's a distant and lonely smile that confirms for him that she's empathetic to whatever tragedy befell this place.

That's something he learned early on in their friendship—Elara's something of a clairvoyant.  She's sensitive to the feelings of others and, even without being able to see, she can read emotions through magicka.  In a place like this, it's easy for the atmosphere to become overwhelming.

Still, Elara maintains her smile.  "Thank you."

"Do you need a moment?"

"No," Elara says with a shake of her head.  "I'm okay.  But... I would like to leave some flowers here, so others are aware when they come across this place.  Do you still have those Deathbells from Morthal?"

He does.

Elara carefully places the blue flowers from Hjaalmarch along the windowsill of the cabin.  The Deathbells were originally collected for alchemy during their brief stay in Morthal - a trip Elara had been wary of since the start - but this feels like a much more appropriate use.

"They say Deathbells grow wherever tragedy occurs," she recites.  "Sometimes I wonder if it's not the people who spread Deathbells to the tragedies instead...  I can't say for certain how it happens, but I would be glad if they take root here."

Farkas takes Elara's small hand in his as she admires the flowers she cannot see.


End file.
